Suicide is a noble way to die. It is often a logical choice too, when it is readily apparent that there is nothing but suffering and pain ahead of you in your life.

It is very strange that modern society seems to accept the idea that something must be "wrong" with people who commit suicide. It's either explained in ridiculous Kafka-equse terms as "asymmetrical warfare", or as a result of mental health problems. Perhaps it is just the best, most logical choice?

In the same manner, it would be perfectly logical for someone like Bradley Manning to want to kill himself when he is forced by our Regime to go without clothes and stand naked at attention every morning to endure the taunts of his captors.

That suicide is a noble act does not mean that only noble people commit suicide. You can be a horrible person and still perform a final noble-- and, in a way, redemptive-- act.

1) What's the suicide rate among prisoners in US high security prisons? (I want to know if this is a phenomenon whenever you incarcerate for a long time.)2) What does it mean to raise the spectre of "suicide" in a population that ostensibly were likely to commit suicide (by that I mean suicide terrorist attack)?

Miss Victoria (and regards to your mum)--Haley Barbour is a very competent governor--I had the opportunity to review how he handled mississipi's response to Katrina and he was a class act.

Regretably he has already been slimed by the MSM and I honestly dont believe the elecorate will go for him, primarily because I dont see our electorate electing anyone with a southern drawl.

He's good and a competent governor. In fact an intersting factoid is that mmiddle class blacks in Memphis are moving to Mississipi to buy homes in De Soto County. But, of course, because of his southern roots he has to be a racist. That will be the meme.

I agree with Julius. Manning should commit suicide. It is the only way for him to redeem himself. Same goes for the Gitmo detainees. In fact maybe we could arrange for Manning to be transferred to Gitmo and let the problem sort itself out.

Gee, a few people, who have little to no regard for human life, take their own lives. I'm not sure why I need to analyze why they took their own life. More interested in what I can do to change their value of human life in general.

I guess the Tiger Beat story fell into the "too good to fact check" category."

As for whether suicide at Gitmo is part of their the terrorists' war plan or a cri de coeur doesn't concern me. These people renounced their human rights when they signed up with Al Qaeda. They kill indiscriminately, including other Muslims. The Bill of Rights doesn't apply to the entire world.

For our military officials to characterize prisoner suicides as "acts of asymmetric warfare" is equivalent to a bully who is pounding a victim to say, "Why do you keep hitting my fist with your face?"

In other words, absurd on its face, and a shameful denial of who is actually the victim and who the victimizer. Of course, the military is notoriously dishonest in its public statements on just about any matter, so no one with a brain would take this particularly disgraceful lie seriously.

"These people renounced their human rights when they signed up with Al Qaeda."

How do you know they're members of Al Qaeda?

"They kill indiscriminately, including other Muslims."

How do you know they've killed anyone?

"The Bill of Rights doesn't apply to the entire world."

It limits what American authorities may do to any person incarcerated by them. We have yet to charge or try these prisoners, and aside from unproven assertions by the government, we have no knowledge whether they ever committed acts of war--however liberally defined--against the United States, so to call them "illegal combatants" or even to dignify them as "prisoners of war" is to assert that which has not been demonstrated as true.

Whatever the truth may be, it is certainly different for each prisoner, and remains to be proved.

Carole Herman - "You want to call them "combatants?" They don't wear uniforms. (Unless you want to count them by their turbans.)"

A silly never in the military female attempt at distinguishing combatants from non-combatants.

My mail truck driver wears a uniform. She is not a combatant.

However, Jihadis throughout their history do not wear uniforms. Nor did most native american warriors, mst Confederate soldiers. Nor partisans or Tamil Tiger enemy combatants. There is no "uniform" for the Hezbollah soldiers that match up well man for man against the Israelis.

No enemy combatants sent in on deep penetration missions as scouts, spies, saboteurs, or as terrorist fear sowing teams wears a uniform.

"Spoken like a true apologist for terrorist scum. Are you a lawyer or just wish you could be so you could defend what you seem to be sure are just misunderstood 'political prisoners'?"

I'm someone who believes in that America that truly could be exceptional, a country that truly gives due process of law to the accused, and doesn't simply take the word of the authorities that bad guys are bad guys simply they're accused, and who doesn't believe that accused bad guys who haven't been charged, haven't been tried, haven't been proved to be guilty of anything should be held in prison without hope of release, or tortured to extract confessions.

All those who bray about "American exceptionalism" are, to the extent they applaud the maltreatment we have meted out and continue to mete out to these prisoners are traitors to and haters of America. I don't know if they're hypocrites or simply deluded or ignorant, but it doesn't really matter, as the end result is still evil done by and in the name of "America."

Fudd loves the way Hezbollah fights, hiding in the women and children. He's chowing down on that Hezzie dick, hoping to get it up the ass some day. Or at least that's what he fantasizes about jacking off in his flophouse room.

"I'm someone who believes in that America that truly could be exceptional,..."

Please cite for us your model country, the model that we really should strive for.

Again, self-flagellation did not get the US to the forefront of many technological advances that benefit the entire world.

If your larger point is illegal detention, then call it that, not a blanket criticism of those that choose to have a more positive attitude towards their country.

Frankly I couldn't care less if all the Gitmo detainees were let go today, for I believe they will find their way into oblivion all on their own. Where do you live, Robert? Your neighborhood could be a really good release point for these misunderstood world citizens. You okay with that???

The dim view you choose to take in many of your posts places you pretty firmly with the elitists and guilty rich that seek to ruin what IS good about this country.

"Given that some of the people we *have* released went right back to the fight, I'm unwilling to take the risk of releasing any of the people we were less sure of."

Who? How many? 200? 100? 5O? 5?

All we have are assertions by the government, who have already shown themselves as eager liars in support of their agenda. How do we know that, of those released prisoners who may actually have turned to violence upon their release, they had not previously been peaceful, and were radicalised by their treatment? If YOU were kidnapped and held and abused for years in prison by a foreign power, wouldn't you find it hard NOT to want to strike back at them if you had a chance and were released to freedom?

"Given that some of the people we *have* released went right back to the fight, I'm unwilling to take the risk of releasing any of the people we were less sure of."

Who? How many? 200? 100? 5O? 5?

According to the Obama administration, 81 out of 600, with an additional 69 suspected. The New York Times has independently confirmed 42 of them so far. The list includes suicide bomber Abdallah Saleh Ali al-Ajmi and Yemeni al Qaeda leader Sa'eed al-Shihri.

All we have are assertions by the government

That's incorrect.

How do we know that, of those released prisoners who may actually have turned to violence upon their release, they had not previously been peaceful, and were radicalised by their treatment?

That's not a rational explanation. The issue is also moot; regardless of the cause of their radicalism, releasing radicals is a dumb idea.

I realize it doesn't matter to you, because when a "radicalized" Muslim detonates his suicide bomb and blows up a bunch of Muslim civilians or American soldiers you just smugly add the dead to the "America's fault" column of your scorecard. But it matters to the rest of us. :)